1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the area of electrical plug-in connectors to achieve an electrical connection between two electrical regions separated from one another by a partition wall. The invention relates in particular to an electrical plug-in connector comprising a connector part with electrical plug-in contacts, a guide bushing connected to said connector part designed to penetrate an assembly hole made in a wall, and an electrical socket part containing electrical contact jacks that is insertable into the oppositely facing opening of said guide bushing to create an electrical connection with said plug-in contacts, said plug-in connector being firmly held against the wall after installation.
2. Background Art
Such electrical plug-in connectors are required, for example, for the use of gear control systems in motor vehicles. In such cases, the gear wall is the partition wall between an electrical plate, located inside the gear housing, upon which is fitted a connector part with electrical plug-in contacts and a pin housing in order to establish electrical contact with said electrical plate. To achieve contact of said electrical plug-in contacts of said connector part, a socket part is provided which is attachable to said electrical plug-in contacts in order to provide the desired electrical plug-in connector with contact jacks contained in said socket part. Said socket part is arranged at one end of a cable section whose other end is connected to the inputs and outputs of an electronic control system that monitors and controls the electronic systems within said gear housing.
Such a plug-in connector is known from German Utility Model 297 21 908.1. For the electrical plug-in connector represented in said document, the connector part as described above is part of the electrical plate from which the electrical plug-in contacts project in the direction of the gear wall. The plug-in contact arrangement is bordered by a bridge-like insert edge. Said insert edge forms a receptacle for the front section of the socket part and for receiving a guide bushing. Said guide bushing is arranged to project upward through said gear wall from said electrical plate and to border the inside of the insert edge. Said guide bushing is connected to said insert edge by a fastening clamp. With a section having locking grooves on the outer side, said guide bushing projects from said gear wall on the opposite side of said electrical plate. Said locking grooves serve to lock a bayonet ring fitted to said socket part to secure the electrical plug-in connection created.
The bayonet ring, on its end at the plug-in side, has a support flange that is supported on the outer surface of the gear wall. The bayonet locking is designed such that, when locking is achieved by contact of said bayonet ring or rotation of same, the guide bushing is withdrawn to a specified extent from said gear wall. To said gear wall are attached elements, with similar action as groove pins pointing toward the electrical plate, which engage into corresponding centering and fastening sockets fitted on said electrical plate. When said bayonet ring is locked to said guide bushing, thus causing said guide bushing to be withdrawn or said electrical plate to be pulled toward said gear wall, said elements with similar action as groove pins are pressed into said centering and fastening sockets fitted to said elements. After said bayonet ring makes contact, the electrical plug-in connector and the electrical plate matching the connector part are then fastened to said gear wall.
To assure satisfactory long-term operation of such a gear, the electrical plate or electrical plug-in connector must be attached to the gear wall so that no play is allowed. If a play-free attachment is not provided, the elements can be damaged during motion against one another as the result of gear vibration. Even if such a play-free attachment of said electrical plate or electrical plug-in connector to said gear wall is achievable with the previously known plug-in connector, the reliability of the attachment with regard to gear vibration is strongly dependent on the quality of the frictional grip between the casing surface of the elements with similar action as groove pins and the cylindrical inner surfaces of the centering and fastening sockets. If a connection is produced that withstands strong extension forces, said connection requires a dimensional configuration of said elements with similar action as groove pins and said centering and fastening sockets such that the former must be pressed with strong force into the latter. As the number of fastening points used increasesxe2x80x94three being customarily usedxe2x80x94the force required to produce a connection also increases. Manual assembly is then not always possible. In addition, due to production tolerances in the attachment of said centering and fastening sockets and said elements with similar action as groove pins, said electrical plate can be subjected to undesired stress after contact is made with said gear wall.
Proceeding from the previously discussed prior art, the object of the present invention is thus to propose a generic electrical plug-in connector that not only can be assembled in a stress-free manner by simple means, but that also allows a play-free attachment to the wall.
This object is achieved by the invention in that the guide bushing is fitted with support elements that are supported on the wall surface on the socket side, and said guide bushing has a lock stop that is spaced at a distance from the support edge that is slightly larger than the distance between said support elements and the wall surface on the connector part side, on this same side of the opening area of the assembly hole, upon which lock stop, for an assembled plug-in connector, a bolt-action locking element exerts a fastening pressure directed away from the wall surface, said locking element being supported on its other side at the wall surface on the connector part side such that the wall sections bordering said assembly hole between said support elements of said guide bushing and said locking elements tightly brace said plug-in connector against the wall, said locking element for advancing to said lock stop being movably attached to said connector part.
Such an electrical plug-in connector is thus fastened to a wall so that, by means of the support element fitted to the guide bushing, an abutment supported on the wall surface on the socket side is formed, thus creating a force fit by insertion of the locking element such that said locking element is supported at the wall surface on the plug-in connector side, and also that pressure, directed toward said connector part, is exerted on said lock stop. This force fit fastens said guide bushing with no play in the assembly hole of said wall. In order to introduce such a locking element, an activating arm is suitably fitted thereto that is movably held against said connector part to perform the locking motion. Since said locking element is a component of said connector part, no additional aids are needed to assemble said electrical plug-in connector or to fasten the guide bushing of same in said assembly hole of said wall. Said guide bushing is locked and fastened in said assembly hole by simply leading said locking element to said lock stop of said guide bushing, whereby only that amount of force need be applied that is necessary to achieve the desired force fit. Since said locking element for fastening said guide bushing has a bolt-type action, said guide bushing is safeguarded against withdrawal by means of this bolt.
As a support element for the guide bushing, it is suitable to provide a support flange that is supported on the wall side, in the region of the opening of the assembly hole on the socket side. The lock stop is preferably the wall facing the wall of a surface locking groove that is introduced, tangentially arranged, into said guide bushing. To assure a consistent force fit of said guide bushing in said assembly hole, a preferred embodiment provides for two diametrically opposed locking grooves to be fitted to said guide bushing, whereby a forked locking clamp engages to lock the guide groove. Such a locking clamp, together with its locking arms, is pushed into said locking grooves with a pushing motion that is radially directed toward said guide bushing. To this end, a convex element, preferably a T-section, can be attached to the activating arm as a guide, whereby said convex element is slidably guided into a concave element attached to said connector part, which is suitably a C-section designed with complementary dimensions. Said activating arm is advantageously located with said locking clamp in the open position on said connector part before same is assembled, so that, after the guide bushing located on said connector part is introduced into said assembly hole by sliding said activating arm within the guide, locking can be achieved, such as by striking with a rubber hammer. Said guide bushing, together with optionally molded-on electrical plate, is then fastened with no play to a wall. After the socket part is introduced and locked to said guide bushing, the electrical plug-in connection is produced.
In the event that the guide bushing and the connector part are provided as two parts, said connector part has an insert edge at which said guide bushing can be introduced, internally adjacent thereto. Said insert edge preferably has two diametrically opposed locking slits that penetrate same, and said guide bushing is fitted with additional lock stops at appropriate positions. A connection between said guide bushing and said connector part can then likewise be made with a forked locking clamp. The assembly of such a plug-in connector is particularly simple if said locking clamp is arranged on the same activating arm, parallel to said locking clamp provided for locking of said guide bushing. With a single sliding motion of said activation arm, locking of said guide bushing with said connector part, as well as locking of said guide bushing in the assembly hole of the wall, occur simultaneously.
The pressure exerted by the locking arms on the lock stops can be created by curved sections of the locking clamp arms that are elastically resilient, at least in the vicinity of the curvature.